green spotted help needed

[daffydase]

hello, i have a 200l tank, its been sitting for a while now and i have now got round to cleaning it all out, i have just got it a rena external filter, a heater
do i need a powerhead?
do i need a skimmer?
i want to keep gsp's in this one, i have 2 lfs in my area and one has them in brackish water, one in tropical water, and online most people keep in marine systems, whats do these fish really like??????
can they be kept in a marine set up with live fiji rock and arga alive sand? or are they brackish and need normal sand and not live rock? or are they tropical?
what kind of tank lay out do they like and what kind of numbers can i keep of them? thanks

[trekenk]

GSP do well in high brackish but most people will move them to full marine with live rock and a skimmer. Keep in mind when going full marine with live rock and skimmer you don't need a mechanical filter. The reason for full marine is in the long run you save $$$$. I see you mention 2 GSP's but sorry your tank is only large enough for one.
With full marine and a 200l = 52 gallon many people have had luck with adding a clown fish.

Here is a great link to read up on GSP.
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

[daffydase]

GSP do well in high brackish but most people will move them to full marine with live rock and a skimmer. The reason for full marine is in the long run you save $$$$. I see you mention 2 GSP's but sorry your tank is only large enough for one.
With full marine and a 200l = 52 gallon many people have had luck with adding a clown fish.

Here is a great link to read up on GSP.
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

thanks, can a gsp live with figure 8? will a 1inch baby gsp be ok to be put in a marine set up once tank has cycled? how long would you acclimatise him? am i better to get him from the LFS keeping him in brackish or tropical now? what is the size of a pully grown gsp?

[trekenk]

GSP and F8 are not comparable the GSP needs a higher salinity. The LFS should be keeping their GSP in brackish but alas most don't. Most people will start off with brackish for young GSP and then slowly move them up to full marine conditions. There are many thread here on how to slowly increase salinity. Fully adult size of a GSP is the size of a nerf football. Hope that helps. It is best to check the salinity of the brackish water they are in at the LFS and set your tank up to match that. It is also much easier to cycle a brackish tank, please do have your tank cycled before adding the GSP.

[daffydase]

GSP and F8 are not comparable the GSP needs a higher salinity. The LFS should be keeping their GSP in brackish but alas most don't. Most people will start off with brackish for young GSP and then slowly move them up to full marine conditions. There are many thread here on how to slowly increase salinity. Fully adult size of a GSP is the size of a nerf football. Hope that helps. It is best to check the salinity of the brackish water they are in at the LFS and set your tank up to match that. It is also much easier to cycle a brackish tank, please do have your tank cycled before adding the GSP.

thanks will live rock live in a brackish set up? or is the salitery to low?

[daffydase]

GSP and F8 are not comparable the GSP needs a higher salinity. The LFS should be keeping their GSP in brackish but alas most don't. Most people will start off with brackish for young GSP and then slowly move them up to full marine conditions. There are many thread here on how to slowly increase salinity. Fully adult size of a GSP is the size of a nerf football. Hope that helps. It is best to check the salinity of the brackish water they are in at the LFS and set your tank up to match that. It is also much easier to cycle a brackish tank, please do have your tank cycled before adding the GSP.

[daffydase]

do they NEED plants and do i NEED a skimmer on the tank as brackish or just when it is marine?

[Pufferpunk]

As per my article, cycle the tank at the SG the puffer is in at the shop (being your hydrometer to the shop to check). Live rock & skimmer is for SG 1.020 & up. IMO, there is no reason to waste your $$$ on $alt or equipment on a juvie GSP. Keep it at the SGs suggested in my article to save yourself some $$$ & give yourself time to adjust your tank to marine. No need for live plants, as they won't survive the transition. You do need lots of decor for the puffer to explore though. Although a single juvie is small now, i'm sure he'd appreciate that tank for himself. When you get it up to SW in a year or 2, you could possible add a tomato clownfish, if he is nice enough to accept a tank mate.

[J-P]

you don't NEED plants, they can be the fake plastic kind. Why plants are recommended is to break up the lines of sight and provide a more complex environment for the puffers to explore. You can do that any number of ways. Having real plants in there helps with FW tanks, but if you are going brackish ~ high end brackish ~ full marine, I'd go fake plants and structures that will last through the transition. Real plants just won't hold up and you'll be wasting your $$ on them.

As for the skimmer, I'm pretty sure you won't need it until you go full marine, so that gives you some time to shop around

[Pufferpunk]

Here's my 55g GSP tank to give you an idea of decor:



All fake, BTW.

[daffydase]

Here's my 55g GSP tank to give you an idea of decor:



All fake, BTW.

nice, i have a bag of arga alive sand that i over ordered when setting up my marine tank for my toby, i also have just got a deltec skimmer for my tank for my toby and have some spare live rock sat in a tub in the garage with a heater and power head keeping it alive, thats why i was wondering if i could use live arga alive sand in a brackish tank, i have a skimmer here now and if i could use the live rock i would like to, i have been reading a thread on here and alot of people seem to be saying that even a 1inch gsp are taking well to marine conditions and are brighter in colour and happy, if i can do this it would be alot easier for me to do it at the start rather than have to empty the tank out and re do it in a year or so, i buy my water pre mixed and its only 15p a litre so isnt a real expence, i think i may get one and take a day to acclimatise him and see how i go, i will get the biggst one in the shop as he should be older and more tollarant to higher salt levels, i love live rock not only for its looks but the filtration benofit aswell and will save me keeping it alive in the garage, i will try and upload a pic in a while as im in the middle of setting it up,

[trekenk]

You don't empty the tank in a year and redo it you bring the salinity up slowly.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19348

Why do you buy your water pre mixed?

In case you need some information on how to cycle your tank.

library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/

[Pufferpunk]

There is nothing alive about sand in a bag. Just rinse well & add to your tank.